My GREAT RIVER STORY began when I was but four years old and I visited the Kern River for the first time after my Dad returned home from serving on the U.S.S. Idaho during WWII. It has been running through me from that moment on. I have found such adventures on my river that the memories have never left me, and the river has become part of my soul. I am the River; the River is me!
In my lifetime and as I approach my later years, I have learned to have the freedom the current of the Kern River has; to be ever changing, and to flow with the course of the eddies wherever they swirl. To stand firm in the rising waters of life, as do the mammoth rocks and boulders which line its bands. To withstand even the wildest of storms, whether that means staying the main channel or overflowing into the surrounding environment and still remain part of the original channel. To change and rebuild no matter what occurs within their flow. To always be a child when on the river. To greet it with excitement, anticipation, pleasure, appreciation, respect, adventure, and even fear. To continue to look for treasures, bugs, polliwogs and giant river suckers no matter how old I may be; and forever to be one of the River Children and to pass on the legacy of the mighty Kern River to future generations.
Today, it is not just the Kern River, but the Wild and Scenic Kern River! It has been taking care of me for many, many years and now it is my turn to care for it. I will spend my time and give my last breath to it, to protect and preserve its treasured flow and never forget that, I am the River and the River is me.